Night of the Long Knives

The Night of the Long Knives, also known as the Rohm Putsch, was a political purge carried out by the Nazi Party from 30 June to 2 July 1934, when Adolf Hitler purged the left-wing faction of the party, conservative rivals of Nazism, and the violent thugs of the Sturmabteilung (SA) paramilitary. Hitler's Schutzstaffel (SS) paramilitary and Gestapo secret police carried out the purge, killing at least 85 people (as many as 200 may have been killed) and arresting thousands. The putsch was praised by President Paul von Hindenburg, who wanted Hitler to prevent the radical SA paramilitary members under Ernst Rohm from taking power from the Reichswehr; Rohm's SA thugs engaged political opponents in street violence, and Rohm wanted the SA to replace the army. Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher, Bavarian prime minister Gustav Ritter von Kahr, and Strasserist leader Gregor Strasser were killed in addition to Rohm and several SA leaders, and the purge ended on 2 July. This consolidated Hitler's rule over Nazi Germany, and it helped in the establishment of a single-party state.